Trees, Peaches, & Rocks
by EvolvedOrchid124
Summary: As Peaches, Eddie, and Crash are climbing trees one day, they meet an abandoned male mammoth named Rocky. Evolution takes its course upon Peaches and Rocky as they grow up together in harmonious friendship throughout their lives.


AN: I finally saw the "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" movie on July 24. It was my inspiration to get back to fanfic writing after such a time of experiencing writer's block with my stories. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

The Astounding Evolution of Peaches

Peculiar speed of growth is the most phenomenal event that occurs in all life forms. From newborn to toddler to child and so forth, evolution crafts a tiny tot to make his or her way gradually and successfully to a satisfied adulthood. The paths of trial and error humans and animals experience is only the smallest of their lives' troubles. What every organism must conquer before they pass to the after life is the ability to take each adventure that comes their way and pursue it without doubt and hesitation.

Three-year-old Peaches is no exception to this theory. Besides learning more and more about her surroundings in the Ice Age every day, she has began saying her first words. Her very first word was her own name.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Ellie would ask her daughter playfully.

"Peaches!" the young mammoth would squeal with delight, clapping her two, small front feet and kicking up snow with her back feet.

"That's right, baby. Do you know why? Because you're cute, round, and furry."

Then she started voicing stray words she heard during adult conversations between her mother and father. Looking down to the wintry ground, she would say "snow". Her eyes would travel to the sight of her short trunk, and she would say "trunk". Pointing to snow covered bark, she would say "tree". The mammoth toddler had also picked up a few phrases great to her use. She would coo "Love you!" when one of her parents would pick her up by the trunk and hug her tight. Instead of crying for food like she had to do as an infant, Peaches now signals her hunger by voicing, "I'm hungry. Food please!"

Peaches displayed herself as the perfect angel. The affectionate soul was learning good manners and how to take turns with her possum uncles, Eddie and Crash, while they played collaborative games. She was interacting and having fun with the other animal toddlers like a confident professional, too. Nothing was able to stifle Peaches from expressing herself to every one around her.

Like any other normal day, Ellie, Crash, and Eddie entertained Peaches as Manny, Diego, and Sid went about their objectives. The mother, uncles, and daughter were playing an exciting game of hide and seek. Peaches was the seeker in this segment of the game. Since she knew how to count basic numbers, she counted from 1 to 10, covering her eyes with her trunk.

"1, 2, 3," she said, reaching 10 counting the rest of the way. When she unsheilded herself from behind her trunk to reveal her sight, Peaches went in search of her three hidden family members. Various snow covered trees, bushes, and dirt mounds were the latter part of her surroundings. She peeked behind every tree, bush, and mound she could find. Finding no success in looking behind things, Peaches glanced up as high as the sky and as low as the ground to further search for Eddie, Crash, and Ellie. Since she couldn't find none of her hiders behind trees, she began scanning the branches of them.

Sure enough, Peaches found all three of her hiders in trees. When she was close to discovering the possum brothers' hiding place, they scattered quietly across the branch intending to hide themselves better. Although, the baby mammoth was smart enough to unveil they were there the whole time. "Possums!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Awwwww, how did you know we were here?" Eddie inquired with a whine.

"Maybe she's catching on to our tactics," Crash suggested. "The kid's getting smarter by the day, you know."

Moments following, Peaches journeyed around other trees to discover her mother's whereabouts. Her small eyes slowly went back and forth as she closely scrutinized the contents of every branch she saw. She was getting more in tune with her surroundings, listening to all the sounds and basking in all the sights in order to get to her mother. It wasn't long until Peaches discovered Ellie perched high in a tree that was afar from the place she stood to count to 10.

"Mommy!" she shouted, grinning in pleasure at her succeeded mission of hide and seek.

"Oh, you found me, Peaches!" Ellie cheered. "Good job ho...oh oh whoa!" The mother mammoth lost her balance from the branches in which she was stationed. She landed on the perfectly round stomach, a pile of snow falling on her head meanwhile. Shaking it off with a laugh, Ellie redeemed herself from the ground.

"Mommy ok?" Ellie aksed out of concern, worried her mother was hurt by the hard fall.

"Yes, baby. Your mom's been doing this for years, falling from trees and all. Maybe one day when you're older, me and your uncles can teach you how to climb a tree."

Peaches gazed at the tree in which Ellie was just hiding. She tried imagining herself being the one strong like her mother and journey to the peak of a tree. What she would see while she was up there is a mystery to her now. Fantasizing about the thrill stood as the only option to think about upon the moment.

But maybe she didn't have to wait to learn how to climb a tree. "Mommy, I climb tree now! Teach me!" Peaches yelped.

Ellie's grin turned into an immediate frown. "I said when you're older, sweetie," Ellie reminded her daughter.

Peaches turned somber and frowned as well. A tear came from her right eye and slid down her cheek. She closed her eyes to hold back the rest of her tears. Crash saw the sadness and disappointment Peaches was feeling. He and his brother knew what it was like to feel small and weak sometimes. It took valuable practice for him and Eddie to become tree climbing experts. They were crestfallen when their parents made them wait to learn tree climbing until a probable age, not even being sympathetic of their desires and emotions.

Crash decided to defend Peaches' position. "Hey Ellie, me and Eddie can teach her," he said with a confident smile. Eddie glanced at his brother and exclaimed with a raised fist, "Hey, you didn't even ask me, Mr. Dare Pants!" On the other hand, Peaches perked up from her sadness hopeful she may get what she desired. The baby mammoth smiled up at her mother.

Ellie made eye contact with her daughter and gasped as she turned back to her brothers, "Are you nuts?! I don't want my Peaches to get hurt!" This remark made Peaches's frown return.

"It'll be fun! You remember when Mom and Dad didn't teach us when were super young? They were all strict and stuff. We shouldn't stop Peaches from doing what she wants. She should learn now instead of later, so she'll be better at it when she gets older. Aren't I right, Ellie?"

Petrified mother mammoth threw her brother a puzzled expression. She knew Crash's philosophy was a sensible one. Agreeing upon it was going to take some critical thinking and ultimate sacrifice. Keeping Peaches safe and healthy is her most cherished and important priority as a loving parent. Ellie looked back and forth between Peaches and her brothers, giving Peaches an empathetic expression and her brothers a quizzical one. A few tears were still escaping Peaches' eyes as if they were constantly pleading Ellie to affirm her request.

Eddie decided to help Crash reason with their strict sister. Now that he heard why Crash thinks they should teach Peaches their born ability, he was ready to come in as back up.

He said, "Ellie, please reconsider. The little tot needs adventure. A life without adventure and problems is so dull. Peaches is going to have to live on her own with a mate and a child someday. She has to experience some kind of downfall if you want her to get stronger and more capable of being independent. Keeping her from the horrors of the outside world is only going to make her weak and scared when the time comes for her to defend herself."

Ellie sighed in defeat. Her brothers both had good points. She never wanted to let go of Peaches. Being mommy's little girl is what Ellie wanted Peaches to be forever. Giving in, she warned, "Okay, you can teach Peaches how to climb trees once a week. I see any major cuts and bruises on her than you boys are in serious trouble!" The critical female pointed her trunk and glared at her siblings to further emphasize the consequences they would face if her daughter so happened to get injured during lessons.

"But sis, have you ever heard every one say 'When you fall down, you get back up again'?" Eddie questioned, his puny arms outspread. His wide grin showed his sharp, pointed teeth and bubble gum pink tongue. Ellie scrutinized him thoroughly, her angered expression having the intention of dawning fear. However, that had no effect on Eddie's confidence to go on with explaining his point. "You always fell down when you were learning to climb trees. Ma and Pa were concerned, but they didn't craze about it. They knew that falling down was apart of learning the tricks."

"Okay okay enough with the speeches!" Ellie screeched, shaking her head vigorously in frustration. She averted her attention to the now happy Peaches. She went on, "Peaches, I want you to stick with your uncles, okay? Listen to them as they teach you what they know. Don't wander off without them at your side. Be a good girl for mommy, okay?"

"Ok, Mommy," Peaches replied. Ellie patted her on the head with her trunk and gave her a boost to go off in the distance. She watched her daughter and brothers walk ahead into the snowy forest. It had a surplus of trees enough to help Peaches learn to climb them.

"Just don't grow up on me too fast, sweetie," Ellie said to herself while honing a half smile on her lips.

Next Chapter: Abandoned Rocky


End file.
